Old Fairy Tail Rd
by Painting Me Blue
Summary: Levy just wanted to escape from her past life, but she still couldn't figure out how she ended up stranded on this old desert road, only having the clothes on her back and her faithful cat Lily, with a gruff man being the only one willing to help her out in this unforgiving desert. AU, Multichapter. Gajevy/Gale other pairings might be added later, Rated T for cussing might change
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters or locations; I'm just playing with them for my stories.**

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Chapter 1 Welcome to Magnolia

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Magnolia is a small desert town that belongs to the land of Fiore. It is smack dab right in the center of a large desert with only a single 300 mile stretch of road extending from one end of the desert to the other. About 130 miles going down either end of the road will lead you right into the heart of Magnolia, that road is called Old Fairy Tail Road. Back in the day the town of Magnolia was a main tourist attraction. Once having a beautiful large lake that surrounded the town on the north side, the lake was once named Fairy Tail and the road that was built right alongside it shared its name shortly after being built. After all the only reason anyone had to drive down Old Fairy Tail Road was to get to Fairy Tail Lake.

The town it's self was built after the road to cash in on the attraction that was the lake. It was a large lake that spread over 40 miles of land and had the most beautiful magnolia trees that framed the lake. And when the flowers bloomed and fell from the trees the lake looked as though it was taken from a story book as the white flowers danced across the surface. So people would drive the hundreds of miles to make a trip to the see lake and even swim and fish in it. Because of this a small pub and grill was one of the first businesses to be built here. Followed by a small inn and grocery store and soon after the rest of the town emerged around the main road.

However after the town of Magnolia hit its prime the drought season became worse and worse. So much so that the Fiore Government had built a dam to cut off the river that fed water to the great lake, so that they could save as much water as they can. 7 years past and the lake by then had fully dried up and the town slowly died with it. Now the town of Magnolia is only a few thousand strong instead of the near hundred thousand it once had. A lot of the buildings are worn with disrepair and the town's people lost a handful of great men and women. But most of those who were born in the town of Magnolia stayed put and tried their best to keep the dream that once was alive.

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Gajeel Redfox was one of these citizens. He was born and somewhat raised in this town. His mother stopping at the hospital when she went into labor while driving through town, sadly shortly after his birth she had slipped out of the hospital and resumed her way out of town and out of her son's life. The only thing she left him was his name to be placed on his birth certificate. So without a family or home to call his own, Gajeel was raised alongside a group of orphans with similar a fate. He was rotten child growing up, planning to ruin all the lives he would come into just as his mother in his mind, ruined his.

Gajeel had earned the title Kurogane in his teens when he joined a small gang called Phantom Lord. His title referring to his black clothes and iron studs that he pierced his face arms and legs with. While in the gang he would break into homes and shops and trash the place, as well as attack and threaten any who crossed his path. After a few years of being in the gang a small group of people had moved to Magnolia. They had been friends since childhood and even preformed in a circus together for many years before retiring to the still bustling town of Magnolia.

The trio had no family to claim and just went by there first names, Metalicana, Igneel, and Grandeeney. Metalicana was once a Strongman and Lion Tamer; he was a large man standing 7 feet tall and was built with thick muscles and tanned skin that was calloused and scarred over the many years of rough labor. He was quick to anger and had little patience for pests and annoying fools; however he was great with his hands and knew a lot about cars. So shortly after moving to town he had turned an old firehouse station into a garage and apartment home for himself.

Gajeel was interested in the large man, seeing him as a perfect target to screw around with. His teenage mind thinking if he could beat this man he would be unstoppable. Of course the teen's plan quickly back fired when Metalicana caught him breaking into his shop and home. Metalicana had beaten the living shit out of the boy before dragging him to his friend Grandeeney to patch up. The woman was a soothsayer and created elixirs and potions to cure common ailments. Grandeeney had created her own business she ran out of her home selling her elixirs. She was a small woman compare to her large friend but she as well was great with her hands and quickly patched up the boy and sent them back to the garage.

When Gajeel had awoken he had found Metalicana looming over him with a look that could kill and got the boy right to work in his shop to pay off the broken window he had come in through. Even long after the window was paid off, Metalicana still expected the boy to show up at his shop to work and after a few months he had brought him upstairs and showed him the room he would use from now on. Metalicana, if asked, would just claim that his reason to give the boy a place to stay in his home was so that he could be sure Gajeel would show up on time, however if where to ask Grandeeney or Igneel they would have said it was because Metalicana saw himself in the boy.

This went on for many years and over time the two found a way to live with one another. They still fought like cats and dogs and would often end up on Grandeeney's porch with busted faces and bruised ribs. But after their time together dragged on each of the two guys' life changed with it. Gajeel had left the gang and cleaned up his act, he stopped harassing people and stealing from others and became a great mechanic under Metalicana's apprenticeship. He even went back and finished high school and got his certification to work as an auto mechanic. Metalicana had learned to become more patient and even learned to better control his temper around others from being around the brat so long.

Gajeel had saw him as the father he never had, even calling him Pops and Old Man from time to time and seeing how the older male had yet to knock his teeth out for calling him such things, Gajeel assumed the large man felt the same kind of bond as he did. But of course that was around the time the lake began to dry and soon after the population dwindled don.

Igneel was becoming restless at the now emptying town and proposed to his friends that it was time to leave for a new home with new faces. In the time they spent in Magnolia, Igneel had become the school's basketball coach and owner of a local gym as well as preforming his arts to the town in front of city hall. He was an amazing fire performer, eating, dancing and jugging with flames and was also a tightrope walker back in the day. Even Igneel had found a lost child to take in and care for as Metalicana and even Grandeeney did, but his soul and feet where restless and they couldn't afford to take three more aboard their travels.

He, Grandeeney and Metalicana all planed in secret and left the town 7 years after the drought began on the morning of July 7th. Each leaving behind a note and plan for their foster children so they would have something to take care of themselves with, along with a promise of seeing them again in the future whenever that may be. Metalicana had left his shop and home to Gajeel to take care of and the others did the same with their children.

Gajeel was heartbroken at losing his only family but remained strong as his Pops taught him. It has been 12 years since the drought started and 5 years since the trio left a now 25 year old Gajeel was making his daily trips down the long stretch of road that extended across the desert land. He would often do this during the summer months to catch some business from the broken down cars that one could find on this desert road. The heat alone could kill any car that wasn't in tip top shape and it would take hours before a wrecker from the towns over to make their way out this far.

Most days he would come up empty handed but fate was smiling on the gruff man as a beat up orange slug-bug could be seen smoking and puttering on the side of the road. He pulled up in front of the stalled car and stepped out of his wrecker and examined the small form that was leaning into the open engine compartment. It was a small girl with short white shorts and tan strapped sandals in a denim vest. From what Gajeel could see from her turned back was that she sported a fluff of blue hair on her head along with a yellow cloth that hung from the side of her head. He watched with amusement as the girl had yet to notice him even though he had pulled up in a rather loud and large vehicle.

His amusement quickly turned to astonishment as a black cat standing on its back legs hopped out of the car with its face deep within the car's manual. The cat had round ears and a scar across its eye and also wore green pants and small wraps around its waist. The cat was the first to notice him as it dropped the manual and stared wide eye at Gajeel.

"Uh Levy we have company." The cat spoke and began to paw at the girls small legs.

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"Huh what do you mean Lily?" Levy looked up from the inside of the car and turned to face a tall muscled man with piercings. He was wearing torn jeans and steel toed boots along with a greased up white wife-beater and orange headband to keep his hair back. He stood crossed armed with an interested look on his face as he watched Pantherlily move about. Levy wasn't sure how to approach the situation until she caught sight of the wrecker that was parked behind the large man. With that in mind she quickly scooped up Lily from the ground and walked up to the man with a bright smile.

"Hello! I'm sorry I didn't notice you earlier, my name is Levy, Levy McGarden and this is Pantherlily. And yes he is an Exceed and no you cannot buy him from me. But I was wondering seeing how you have a wrecker if you could tow my car to the nearest town?"

Levy only hoped that the man would in fact help them and not try and bum her cat off her. Exceeds are a rare breed of cat that actually, humans know very little about. They somehow have to ability to talk and feel emotions as humans do and even stand up on their back legs. There are only a few dozen or so around in Fiore and Levy was lucky enough to have found one that wanted to stay with her.

That seem to have broken the man's trance as he looked her in the eye before breaking out into a creepy (to her at least) grin.

"Well that was the plan Pipsqueak, Gihihi."

To Levy the world seemed to stop momentarily for her to process the statement the man just said. A second later she glared up at the man and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"HEY! Don't call me that! I have a name remember its Levy, LEEVY!"

One thing she couldn't stand was someone picking on her for her height. The man just grinned at her and walked past her to her car and started to examine the engine. Lily had took this moment to jump from Levy's arm and hopped onto the front of the car watching the man as he worked.

"You never told us your name stranger, it is only proper even if you insulted my friend."

Lily met the red eyed gaze of the large man and watched as his mouth broke back out into a grin before he lowered his head back down to his work.

"The name's Gajeel Redfox and it seems like it to me 'Levy' that yer engine is shot to hell. This rust bucket anit gettin' anywhere fast now."

"It's not a rust bucket! It just has character!" Levy knew her car was a little banged up and was pretty old but it was hers damnit and it got her where she needed to go. That was until they hit this long stretch of unforgiving desert road.

"Well look shorty from what I'm looking at it's time to say good bye to the orange terror that you call a car. No way in hell I could fix this piece of shit and I'm the best mechanic around for a good 500 miles."

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Gajeel lifted his head from the car and turned to face Levy while he leaned back against her car and wiped his hands off on an old rag. He felt bad for the girl as she let her shoulders sag in defeat. He of all people knew the kind of attachment you could have with cars, seeing how he has a soft spot for Metalicana's old pickup. The cat jumped down and ran up to the sadden girl and rested his paw on her leg. Seeing another Exceed in Magnolia was mind blowing to Gajeel however. He knew of only two others, a dumb blue one and a snooty white one. Gajeel had to admit he like this black one the best.

Then he heard something that made his skin crawl with fear. The bluenette had begun to cry into her hands and Gajeel mind ran a million miles an hour to figure out how to stop her from crying. Way long ago Gajeel had made the young girl who stayed with Grandeeney cry. Shortly after he was pulled from the room, dragged back to the shop and brutally beaten by Metalicana. He couldn't remember which was worse of a beating that one or the first time he met the Old Man. Pops instilled in his head very quickly that making a woman of any age or size cry was the most unforgivable thing in the world. Ok ONE of the most unforgiveable things.

"H-hey look stop crying ok! I'll take yer POS back to my shop and see what I can do alright just quit it with the water works ok!?"

He watched as she picked up her hands from her face and quickly wiped her eyes and grinned wickedly at him. Gajeel just looked at her with a blank face as he realized her trick. She just grinned at him and handed him her keys to the car and stood back with a now smug looking cat in her arms.

"Ready when you are Mr. Redfox!" The pocket woman chirped at him with a bright smile.

Gajeel let an annoyed sigh bleed from his lips as he began to hook up her car to his wrecker. After the slug bug was hooked up he walked up to the driver side of the wrecker and climbed in and let out a snicker as the small girl struggled with the cat a bit to reach the seat. She responded with a burning glare and promptly stared out into the desert. That seemed to calm her down as she hummed to herself and watched Gajeel as he drove them towards Magnolia.

It would be a 30 or so minuet drive till they reached town and Gajeel was already becoming annoyed by the sprite as she stared at his face. He let his head rolled to the right as he met her eyes, her cheeks flushing at being caught. He answered her unasked questions.

"Yes they are real, yes I did them myself, no they are not a gang symbol or at least not anymore and no I'm not going into that with you and no I not going to hurt or steal from you." Gajeel couldn't help his smirk as the girl glowed bright red and instead of looking at his face she turned her attention to the purring cat in her lap.

"I'm sorry that was rude of me, I shouldn't have stared at you, but I didn't think they were from a gang or anything you know!"

"Yah sure yah didn't Shrimp."

"Shrimp!?" Levy had quickly raised her head back up to glower at Gajeel, which he replied with his signature grin and laugh. He found out very quickly that he enjoyed teasing the small woman sitting next to him.

"Yah yer as small as one so I'm gonna call you Shrimp, after all you owe me for that trick earlier."

"Ugh! Well I had to do something ok! No one was stopping to help they just kept on going like a bunch of jerks! And when I called for a tow truck they just laughed and said sorry you're too far out to go get. They acted like this road was a death trap or something and I thought you were just going to leave me back there."

Gajeel glanced away from the road to watch her as she gave her speech. He knew that it was his fault that the other wreckers refused to help her after all he and Metalicana made it very clear that Old Fairy Tail Rd was there bread and butter. So of course you can't argue when two large rough looking men come to your garage looking as they did. Gajeel flicked his eyes back on the road.

"Don't worry Shrimplett I wasn't gonna leave yah out there even if yer cars ah lost cause. I'll figure something out for yah."

Levy looked up at Gajeel and let out a small smile at his words, before her eyes focused on an old worn down sign as they drove past it.

Welcome to Magnolia

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**So I hope yal are gonna like this story! It will be fluffy and cute and make you all gitty! Maybe lol. Also this will be the first story that I will flesh out more. Like you may see some other ships an such, this won't be 100% focused on Gajeel and Levy, maybe 90-95% cus it still is there story. I'm actually excited for this AU story so I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!**

**Thanks to all that read, review, fav and follow myself and all of my other stories! Makes me happy to see that so many people enjoy them. So I hope you all have a great day and I will see you next time!**

**-Paint**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters or locations; I'm just playing with them for my stories.**

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Chapter 2 Pickpockets and Crooked Deals

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Levy examined the auto shop as they pulled up into the parking lot beside the old three story building. It looked like it was once an old style firehouse. From the opened garage doors she could see the copper pole that led up into the 2nd and possibly 3rd floor of the building. It was a faded red brick building with many arched windows spaced out across the front and sides. The garage had a few other cars inside suspended on lifts as well as having counters covered with car parts and tools. Just to the side of the garage was a store front looking area. It had a large window with the name of the shop scrawled across its surface as well as having a surprisingly friendly looking green front door off to the side. The sign on the window read, Metalicana's Chop Shop, in gold lettering and under that in smaller print it read Auto Parts and Towing.

Lily as well was interested in the old building and had pressed his face firmly against the wrecker's side window to get a better look. Both of them turned to the sound of snickering and watched as Gajeel put the truck in park and hop out.

"Come on yah can get a better look from inside." Gajeel said with an amused tone as he walked around the front of the wrecker to open up the passenger side door. He stuck out his hand and helped Levy out of the truck; seeing how it was quite a distance from the ground for her short legs.

"Thank you Mr. Redfox."

"Oi don't call me that, Gajeel is fine, and yah making me feel like an old man Shrimp."

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you where such a young soul" Levy had snapped back playfully.

"Lookie here short stuff I'm only 25 so I don't wanna here that crap from you, and like your one to talk anyways. To me it seems like you haven't even hit puberty yet, kid."

Gajeel's tone was playful as well but he could see the agitation as it rolled off her shoulders at him calling her small. His grin got bigger at this and walked pass the girl and into the shop through the garage. He knew she would follow and at the sound of her stomping footsteps he also knew she was trying to come up with a comeback to his earlier statement. Gajeel opened the door leading into the storefront from the garage and walked past the counter to grab a reference book on her make and model of car so he could see if he had any spare parts in the shop. The pocket woman stomped up to him and waved a finger in his face when he turned to face her.

"Now you lookie HERE, I am not a child alright! I am 23 years old and I can't help the way I look, so you don't have to be an ass about it!"

Gajeel just brushed past her as she continued with her tirade, he only half listened as he went back outside and began to unhook her car and roll it into the shop on one of the lowered lifts. He was barley aware of the girl having drowned her out just shortly after she started talking. Gajeel had to admit, having her jump around and yipping like a small dog as quite funny to watch even if her voice was becoming very annoying. It wasn't until he began to notice her voice cracking and becoming less angry and sadder did he tune her back in.

".. and we just been through a lot, ok!? The last thing I needed to happen was the stupid car to break down because I don't have the money to pay for all these repairs. Hell I don't have any money to feed Lily let alone myself."

After her last statement she crumbled onto herself and sobbed into her knees as she wrapped her arms around them. Lily ran up to the girl and hugged her leg as he rested his head on her arms.

"Levy you didn't tell me we were that low on money, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to worry you Lily! It's my responsibility to take care of you not the other way around! I thought if we could make it to the city of Mermaid's Heel on the other side of this freaking desert I would be able to find work. But nothing ever goes as plan does it!?"

Gajeel looked up from his work as saw the pathetic sight that was the small girl and her black cat. He felt bad for the two and from the sound of the girl's voice they have been having a very long rough patch in their lives. He knew exactly what that felt like. It seems like the whole world is against you and is just waiting for you to crack and fall. However Gajeel got a saving grace that was his Old Man, and from the looks of it no one was going to save this poor girl. He began to feel that same feeling of fear and guilt as he did when he first saw her cry.

Gajeel knew this time it wasn't a trick and the tears were not because of him but the feeling never left. Seeing a girl cry was just something that never sat right with Gajeel and he tried to avoid it at all costs. But the raw and ugly sobs refused to leave the girl as she just kept on repeating that she was 'so sorry' to the cat over and over. It was obvious to him that this girl had nothing in her life but the black cat that sat with her and if that kept up she might end up on the wrong side of life like he did. He wiped his hands on his old rag and walked up to Levy. Lily's eyes following closely on his every move, showing to him that the cat will do him harm if he did anything to hurt the girl.

Gajeel awkwardly squatted in front of the girl and gently laid a hand on her head. He only then just realized how small she actually was as his hand covered nearly the entire top of her head and the same guilty feeling ate at his gut. He ruffled her hair a bit and she looked up at him with puffy eyes and a runny nose. Gajeel just gave her a small smile and repeated his statement to her from earlier today.

"I'll see what I can do alright? Just quit it with the water works ok?"

The girl just stared up at him as he picked himself up and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a few jewels and handed them to her. She just wore a confused look as she took the jewels from him. Gajeel just looked back down at the girl and jerked his head to the side towards the street in reference.

"There's ah pub and grill just a bit up the road, has some of the best food yer gonna find in this town. It's called Lady Tankard, go get yah something to eat and come back here in a few hours. By then I should know what's wrong and how to fix it. Then we'll talk about how yah can pay me back for it."

Gajeel couldn't help the bush that reached his ears as Levy just continued to watch him from the floor.

"Well ain't yah gonna go? I assure you sittin' there in this heat is gonna get old pretty fast."

"Why are you doing this…" Levy's voice was weak and rough from the sobbing. She stood up slowly while grabbing ahold of Lily and hugging him tightly to her chest. She noticed the gruff man as he shifted on his feet and tried to look at anything that wasn't her. He was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke, seeing that she wasn't going to move without her answer.

"Cause I've been where yer at before, and I know what it's like…" Gajeel let his words die off and didn't finish his statement as he turned back to her car and began to take apart the engine. He promptly ignored the girl as he tried to focus all of his efforts on the task ahead of him. It wasn't until a small hand touched his shoulder did he even look back at Levy. She looked him in the eyes with a small smile on her lips. It looked like she had wiped her eyes and nose to hide the evidence of her break down moments earlier.

"Thank you Gajeel, I'll make this up to you, somehow."

"We'll talk about that later now get going," He watched Levy as she made her way out of the garage before shouting out to her.

"And don't tell anyone I'm helping yah out ok! Last thing a need is a line of sob stories looking for handouts."

The playful tone was back and Levy saw that his threat held no weight and just laughed out loud at him before walking to the sidewalk with Lily in tow. She raised her hand in the air and waved slightly.

"No promises!"

Gajeel just watched as the girl made her way out of his line of sight and let a grin of his own spread on his face. He felt better about the situation and was pretty sure that Metalicana, if he were here, would have done the same thing as him. His eyes focused back on the pile of junk sitting in front of him and let a groan past his lips as he knew it will take all afternoon to figure out the cause of this car's sudden death. Her car really was a piece of shit and he wasn't quite sure if even he could fix it. But he had a promise to kept and figured he would fine out some way to fix this mess the girl was in. He wasn't sure why he was going out of his way to help Levy, but he did know that if he just wiped his hands clean of her, it would leave a poor taste in his mouth. Gajeel didn't care for the money; he had all he needed to live off of with or without her payment. But he had seen that look before that she had sported as she broke down. He knew what follows after that and refused to let someone else make his same mistakes.

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Lily walked along side Levy, keeping his paw on her leg so he wouldn't lose her in the small crowd that filled the sidewalks. He didn't say anything about the events 10 minutes prior, knowing full well that Levy was quite embarrassed and flustered over her mini break down in the shop. He knew she will eventually tell him the truth about their condition and where they stood as far as money, food or even where they were going next.

Lily had met Levy almost a year ago in the large city of Crocus. He himself had escaped from a lab that was running tests and experiments on him to find out more about his breed. Levy had found him bleeding and half dead in one of the alley ways. She took him in and nursed him back to health and never asked anything from him. He had known she was running from something, she would often be lost in thought and always looking over her shoulder. He never asked knowing she would tell him when she was ready. Lily just became a part of her life as though he had always belonged and when she had told him she was leaving the city he refused to be left behind and begged to come with her. They have been jumping from place to place ever since, never staying in one place too long.

He looked up at his owner and smiled up at her when she met his eyes.

"That Gajeel fellow is very nice Levy, I am honestly surprised from the way he looks, you would never know."

"That is the funny thing about us humans, Lily; you just can't judge a book by its cover."

"It would seem so Levy. Do you think we will be staying here longer than the other locations? After all we will need to hang around long enough to pay off the car repairs and even more after to restock on supplies and jewels."

Levy looked up a bit in thought and rested her hand against her chin. She narrowed her eyes a bit before looking back down at Pantherlily, obviously coming up with her answer.

"Would seem so, it might take a few weeks maybe even months. We still don't have a place to stay tonight seeing how we can't exactly sleep in the car. I'm afraid to ask anymore of Gajeel, he already has done so much for us. I don't want to ask for anything more."

"We might not have a choice in the matter however, but we won't know that until later when we get back to the shop so for now let's get some food, I'm starving!"

Levy giggled as Pantherlily raised his arms in the air and gained a sparkle in his eyes at the prospect of good food. She merely nodded in agreement and found the pub that Gajeel had recommended. It was an old wooden building with two large front windows and a simple gray door leading to the inside. There was a neon sign in one of the windows that read Lady Tankard in bright red and blue font. A sign that read Opened was also hanging from under the name of the pub. Levy picked up Lily and pulled open the gray door and walked inside.

The inside of the pub looked very clean for it obvious old age. Nick-knacks, signs and old trophies and placards littered the walls and bar some dating back over 40 years. The room smelled of burgers and beer and the front end of the bar and tables where filled with customers. A sign near the waiter's stand read, 'Have a seat anywhere and a Waiter will be with you shortly'. Following its orders, Levy made her way to the back end of the pub to take a seat at a small table place in front of a large glass window that stretched the whole length of the back wall. Looking out through the window, she got a great view of the mountain range way off in the distant. She could almost make out the snowcapped tops. However the view was muddied by the large dried up ditch that the back patio of the pub hovered over. The ditch expanded miles out in all directions and looked to be almost half a mile deep. Old boats and trash littered the ditch as the banks where surrounded by dried and rotting trees.

Levy assumed it was the once famous lake called Fairy Tail. The sight of the remains of this once great lake was a sad one and put Levy back in her somber mood from before. She heard it was once an almost magical looking place that people would travel for days to witness in real life. Levy looked around near her table and saw a picture of the lake when it was still in its prime. It was a photo that was probably taken from the deck just beyond the window. The lake was beautiful and she also saw that the trees where once Magnolia trees.

'That's probably how the town got its name,' Levy's musings where cut short as a girl about her age approached her in an old diner style dress and apron with a pen and pad. She was average height for a female, probably 5'6, with golden blond hair that fell strait down around her face and shoulders. She wore a chunk of it up in a side pony tail with a blue ribbon. She had brown eyes and wore a cheeky grin, and had a huge rack. Levy coughed in her hand a bit at the thought, trying to snuff out the jealously she felt about that.

"You must be new in town! I don't think I've ever seen you in Lady Tankard before and… Oh my god is that an Exceed!?"

The waitress plopped down across from Levy at the table and reached over and grabbed Lily from his perch on his owner's shoulders. Levy could only watch as the girl swooned over Lily. Lily however merely enjoyed the attention he was getting and purred as the girl scratched his ears.

"Um…" Levy honestly didn't know what to say about the situation in front of her. Thankfully the girl realized the awkward silence that was coming from the bluenette. The girl just grinned and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"So sorry about that! My name is Lucy by the way Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy stuck her hand out to Levy which she took into her own.

"I'm Levy McGarden and that traitor of a fluff ball is Pantherlily, but I just call him Lily."

Lily just grinned up at Levy at her statement before untangling himself from Lucy's grip. He walked back across the table and sat down on the table beside Levy. The cat held his paw up in greeting to Lucy.

"Hello."

"Wow I never thought we would get another Exceed in Magnolia! We already are the proud owners of two. Happy and Carla are our Exceeds; Natsu Dragneel owns Happy a blue and kind of silly one while Wendy Marvell has Carla she is white and is very proper."

Levy only leaned in on the table and listen as the girl went on and on about the strange town she now found herself in. Sometime shortly after her talking about the old man and his grandson running the orphanage and electronic store as well as mentioning that the gym is owned by this Natsu person, did Levy's hunger made its self-known. The bluenette blushed deeply as Lucy laughed at her embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry! I totally forgot you came here to eat not listen to me prattle about like an old hen! I'll go get you two some of our famous burgers and then we can talk more after, kay?" Lily smiled at Lucy as she stood up to go put in the orders and nodded.

"That sounds wonderful doesn't Levy!"

Levy just laughed and agreed with her cat as she scratched him behind his ear. She knew her and Lily have had a very poor diet these last few weeks. Mostly cheap items out of cans and bags, nothing cooked or seasoned properly. Her eyes held the sadness that she refused to let meet her smile as she petted her cat. She knew she wasn't properly taking care of him or herself this last month and felt horrible that she pushed her problems onto her only friend.

Lily however knew how to read her eyes and saw the guilt. He placed his paw over the one that rested on his head and held her hand. The cat was giving her a comforting smile that promised that things will get better for the two of them. Levy leaned down to him and kissed him on the nose in apology and agreed with his unspoken promise. They both started to drool a bit as Lucy showed back up with their food and happily dug in as the waitress went back to her gossip once more.

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Levy and Lily both made their way out of the tavern and bid a good bye to Lucy with promises of stopping by at a later date. Levy had really enjoyed her long talk with Lucy and even enjoyed the cliff note version of the novel the blond was apparently writing. The bluenette even asked if Gajeel had a favorite meal he enjoyed at the pub and was able to also purchase a meal for him to-go, as a thank you of sorts. Of course just getting this information was like pulling teeth as Lucy teased that Levy had the hots for their residential bad boy. With a million no's and rebuttals she was finally able to make it back on to Old Fairy Tail Rd and start her walk back to the shop. The sun was beginning to set as the old worn clock tower rung out its seven tolls. Levy picked up her pace as Lily hopped onto her to stand on her shoulders as he leaned over her head. She didn't want to be out when it was still dark seeing how she never been in the town before.

Even with Lucy's unrelenting knowledge bounding in her head, she still felt uneasy. She had just caught sight of the shop when someone violently shoved her to the ground before running off and around a corner. Her head hit the ground with a crack and it took her a good few minutes to clear her vison long enough to see that Lily was looking her over with worry. The ringing in her ears made it hard to make out what the cat was saying, however she knew it was probably along the lines of 'Are you ok?'.

"I'm fine Lily just give me a second." Lily stopped talking as he watched Levy pull herself up to a stand as she clutched her head. He knew she was probably dazed but he needed her attention.

"Levy! They took your bag! That person who knocked you down just robbed us!"

That seemed to hit home with the girl as she quickly looked around on the ground for her bag that was no longer there.

"NO! That had all of our money, and my driver license! Oh no! It had our IDs Lily what are we going to do!"

Lily just watched as his friend pull at her hair and let go of the building tears. He didn't see where the person went to, being too busy worrying over Levy's wellbeing. It wasn't until he caught sight of Gajeel opening up one of the garage doors that got the cat thinking. Lily pulled at Levy's leg as he led her to Gajeel's shop. The large man caught sight of them and quickly rushed up to the injure woman as he saw the blood on her temple. Gajeel wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders to steady her as he took her inside the shop and up to the second floor of the living quarters.

"What the hell happen to yah shorty?"

Gajeel couldn't get a straight answer from the girl as she kept on mumbling 'what am I going to do?' over and over to herself like a mantra. Thankfully Lily was there to explain the run in with the thief and the reason for the blood. The mechanic listened closely to the cat's words as he cleaned the girl's cut and bandaged her up. He saw that it wasn't a serious injury and the robbery it's self was probably the reason for the shock state the girl was in.

After hearing Lily describe the symbol he saw on the robber's coat, Gajeel knew exactly who took her bag. A half circle with a dot in the middle with a swirling tail at the bottom, it reeked of Phantom Lord. All that was left of the street gang was petty thieves and cruel boys and Gajeel has had enough of seeing them run amuck. He instructed to Lily that they were going to stay in his guess bedroom and that Gajeel will get her items back. The cat didn't protest and led the girl to the room and shut the door behind him.

Gajeel then closed up his shop early and locked all the windows and entrances before pulling on his long leather coat and making his way down the street. He headed towards a side road that led to the old and worn down ware houses. He then picked up his pace and walked up to an old abandon apartment building and let himself in. A few teenage boys could be seen lounging about on an old worn couch and mattress. They jumped up at the sight of the large man who filled the door and started to back away from him as he grinned evilly at the young men.

"I think yah got somethin' of mine boys…"

.

Lily stretched out his back and legs. He was usually the first to wake and today was no different, Levy was still sound asleep beside him wearing her clothes from the day before. After rubbing the rest of the sleep from his eyes he leaned over the girl to examine her head injury. It was healing nicely and wasn't bruised too badly, with that peace of mind Lily crept out of the room quietly. As he closed the door behind him he saw the figure of Gajeel leaning up against the counter of the kitchen that was right across from the guest room. Gajeel was holding an ice pack to his cut up knuckles and didn't notice the cat until he jumped onto the counters he was leaning against.

Gajeel gave a quiet good morning as he put down the ice pack and handed the cat Levy's bag. Lily was surprised at this and gave an equally quiet thank you. The gruff man just gave the cat a grin and let out a small snicker.

"Gihi, I think I found a way for you and shorty to repay me."

Lily looked interested and matched the man's grin, his amusement spreading like wildfire.

"Oh? So what's the deal boss?"

"Gihihi…"

.

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**GAH! That took me a long time to write today! Ok so here is chapy two! I'll have chapter three out by Friday cus right now my mind needs a short break. Hope yal like the length of these chapters I'm trying for at least 3-4k words at a time. Next time will be their deal! I wonder what Gajeel is planning hehehe.**

**As always…**

**Thanks to all that read, review, fav and follow myself and all of my other stories! Makes me happy to see that so many people enjoy them. So I hope you all have a great day and I will see you next time!**

**-Paint**


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